Soft Sculpture

I have recently enjoyed 2 1-day classes with Dorothy Addlem making a soft sculpture koala and owl. Of course I couldn't just stop at one koala but made several. very relaxing and enjoyable. They are made from a stuffed knitted strip and sculpted in to shape before covering with long and short stitch. Dorothy is famous in the Embroiderers Guild for her wonderful sculpted rabbits, she has made whole families of them.

A belated Happy New Year to everyone. I've had a full house since just before Xmas and now an extra addition of a new grandson Sam, a brother for 4yr old Sienna. I have had the pleasure of looking after Sienna for a few days so quite exhausted. She loves 'craft' so we've had lots of fun exploring cutting, beads, drawing etc as well as lots of 'hide and seek' tag, and storytelling. They live on the other side of Australia in a place called Paraburdoo in Western Australia so we don't see them that often. It has been wonderful.

I have been having a play with resin for the past few months and finally produced something I'm really pleased with. Finishing off is the hard part but I'm getting the knack of adding the base and covering up any sanding marks. Here are some of my latest attempts. I used sequins, glitter and fantasy film for the dichroic effect. For the earlier cabs I used Perfect Pearls and embossing powder to colour the resin but for these latest ones, I used acrylic paint for the base colour which I think worked really well.

BJP December 2014

Hi everyone, just finished my December BJP (I thought I'd get in early, a very busy month ahead). This is a Daffodil Bear (Cancer Council charity bear), beans taken out and restuffed. He's about 8" tall and 10 1/2" around his tum. I decided not to bead his muzzle as I like his face as is. I experimented with a few stitches from Cyndi's 'Bored by Backstitch - 3  - I'm very pleased with the results.
Here's wishing everyone one of you and your families a Merry Xmas and good health in 2015. Thank you all for the privilege of seeing your fantastic and inspirational work. Looking forward to next year's BJP.

Oct Nov BJP

2 posts in one day - I'm making up for lost time.

This little goddess doll is my Oct Nov BJP. I used one of the resin cabs I made a while ago. I do like purple and turquoise. She has been waiting for a rope so I made this chenille stitch rope to hang her from.

Bead Journal Project and more

Hi everyone, I just don't know where this year has gone. Have done lots of work, but wasted so much time on the computer. Have had lots of problems this year. I have upgraded my internet allowance but can't do anything about the speed apparently. Often I have given up trying to upload photos as it has been so slow. On top of that my hard drive on which I store my photos doesn't work any more so I will have to take it to a shop to see if they can access them. I moved them to create some space on my computer. Computers are wondrous things but they create a lot of havoc!

Since My teapot project, I have completed 'Daisy' as well as several cab and owl brooches. I took a felting class with Elizabeth Armstrong from Melbourne, a wonderful tutor. I was so pleased with the results. I have also made more polymer clay faces and had a play with resin.

BJP 2014

This little teapot is my January/February project. I had some computer problems which meant I couldn't upload on to facebook but all okay now.. I used mostly Czech and Japanese 11s and 8s with some pressed beads for interest. Hope you like her. My husband says she looks just like me. Her face is made from polymer clay.

Beaded Art Doll - Sunny

Let me introduce you to Sunny. I started her in July for a Round Robin. There were seven of us in the group, myself from Australia and the other six ladies from USA. Aryd'ell, Karen, Ruth, Dian, Joyce and Suzanne. I started her off with face and head and the other ladies have contributed month by month. All seven of us have ended up with a beautiful doll worked on by all members of the group. The postal services worked quite well except for the last month when USA had such bad weather one doll was three weeks late.

Sunny front

Sunny back

Needlefelted dog

I actually completed a smaller dog that I am happy with. His shape is much better particularly his back legs. He stands about 3" tall and was made with Romney wool with a small amount of Merino for the shading. I'm looking forward to getting back to my 'sewing room' now that my visitors have gone. I have moved everything back in (well, almost) and done some serious reorganising and destashing. I have sent quite a bit of fabric to the Op Shop as I need the space for my wool. I do hate having to store my supplies in hubby's shed.

BJP 2013 completed

Here are all 12 of my 2013 Bead Journal Projects. I have been finishing off borders. As usual, I'm having problems getting them to sit together. Thank you all for your comments over the year. Now to complete January 2014.

December BJP 2013

No 12. I've had such fun creating these ATC sized beaded flowers. I hope to mount them on to a board. Just have to think about the background. This month I have chosen a Pansy using Delica beads. I can't remember what this type of beading is called but I drew the pansy and then beaded in circles over it. I wasn't happy with the couching so went back to beaded back stitch.

BJP November

Another of my favourite flowers is the Billy Button (Craspedia Globosa), we have lots of them growing outside my window at work. (I work in a portable at the back of the main buildings) These bright yellow balls bobble about in the breeze and can be mesmerizing (back to work Marj!). They are native to Australia and New Zealand. They can be hard to get hold of as seed as I haven't found any to plant in my garden. I think I will have see if I can take a cutting.

BJP September/October

The last of the state flowers is the Tasmanian Blue Gum Eucalyptus glololus Labill which of course, is the state flower of Tasmania. The flowers appear singly on the leaves. October's flower is one of my favourites, Geraldton Wax, a leggy bush/small tree which is a native of Western Australia but grows throughout Australia. I have always had them in my garden in Victoria. They come in several shades of fuschia, pinks and all white.

Felted beagle

Hi again, have just completed this beagle which I'm quite please with although it could be better. I followed a tutorial by Elena Lliv. She gave an excellent tutorial in pictures so it didn't matter that I can't speak Russian. I tried to register to thank her but I could not work our the security code so eventually gave up. I really appreciate every opportunity to improve the needlefelting. We had a public holiday on Wednesday so was able to get stuck in. My husband says she looks like a 'Sally' so that is what she has been name. Now I really must get on and get back to my beading.

More Needlefelting

Hi everyone
I've spent some time getting more practice at needlefelting and not so much beading in the last month or so. I worked some more on the owls  Jeanne Harlan-Marriott and have created 2 figures. 'Bob' I made from one of the many faces I discarded for the Santa. I used the video Kay Petal's Craft Alive for the Santa and for the pumpkin. The videos are marvelous for seeing the project from start to finish

'Bob'

ATCs to date

I have been asked to post all ATCs together so for Amy, here they are. Unfortunately, I can't make them sit in a row, so I inserted them into word and saved all as one jpg before uploading.

August BJP

The Waratah Telopea speciosissima is the state flower of New South Wales and flowers from September to November. I haven't done it justice as they have a spectacular dense head of crimson individual flowers with toothy leaves. This would have benefitted from a 3-d effect by working over a padded base, but I am committed to keeping all of these ATC size pieces fairly flat.

July BJP

Apologies for my tardiness, I was away for part of July/August visiting family in Paraburdoo which is in Western Australia; and still trying to get back into things. So much going on. I've just come back from a weekend away with Embroiderers Guild - we go to a school camp twice a year  for lots of stitching and beading and substantial meals, all catered - we just do the washing up. It was wonderful - I needlefelted for most of the weekend, but a group of us made fabric bowls out of fabric covered cotton cord.
Here is my July BJP - a Cooktown Orchid which is the state flower of Queensland.  I will have to get my skates on and start the August BJP, only a couple of days until September - how the time flies.

Cooktown Orchid



Dyed cotton cord with crochet edge



Fabric covered cord with button



Fabric covered cord with crochet edge

Owls need a bit more work